Wicker plans visit to NAS Meridian

Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker says he will visit with Navy officials and pilots at NAS Meridian Saturday in light of reports about safety concerns with the T-45 Goshawk training jets. He made the announcement Thursday.

Wicker chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Seapower, which has jurisdiction over the Navy and naval aviation.

Wicker met Wednesday with Navy personnel in his Washington office following reports that some Navy instructor pilots were boycotting training flights because of reported physiological episodes happening due to contamination of the oxygen-generating system.

“These Navy pilots are raising very serious safety concerns about the planes they fly every day,” Wicker said. “They deserve to be heard and so do those who are in charge of fixing this issue. I am hopeful that my visit with them and other officials at NAS Meridian will yield some answers.”

T-45 training jets are used at the Naval Air Stations based in Meridian, Miss., Pensacola, Fla., and Kingsville, Texas.